May 23, 2008 7:29 am US/Eastern
Parents Outraged Over Proposed School Budget Cuts
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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The city's plan to hit hundreds of high-performing schools with massive budget cuts has sparked parent protests, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg is digging his heels in. On Thursday evening, school officials expanded the list of those who will feel the most.
CBS
The city's plan to hit hundreds of high-performing schools with massive budget cuts has sparked parent protests, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg is digging his heels in. On Thursday evening, school officials expanded the list of those who will feel the most.
Parents of New York City public school students are furious.
"How dare you then go and cut a budget to take money away from the schools that definitely need it," said Brownsville parent Zakiyah Ansari.
"This strategy of divide and conquer is not so much a fiscal policy or an educational policy," added Williamsburg parent Jaime Estades. "It's a political strategy in order to divide the parents of New York."
The threat to hit hundreds of New York City's top schools with painful budget cuts was about as popular with parents as a case of the chicken pox; but Bloomberg says they're necessary unless Albany lets the city redistribute state funds earmarked for low-performing schools.
"That's not good policy for this city," said Bloomberg. "It's not good for the educational system. It says some kids don't deserve as much as others."
Parents are lashing out.
"As a parent of two children at a high-performing middle grade school, I'm outraged that the chancellor would dare try to put parents against each other."
The number of schools getting the biggest budget cuts went from 68 to 75 on Thursday. Over 400 others will also be hit.
Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) disagreed with the mayor on the need for the cuts and she has a way to find the money -- $100 million to be exact.
"I believe we can offset the cuts to the classroom by redirecting those to the Department of Education's bureaucracy," she said.
The City Council is promising to put schools Chancellor Joel Klein on the hot seat and ask him some tough questions on Tuesday.
Gov. David Paterson has said he is against any changes to the state-funding formula. Meanwhile, he signed a bill to make it easier for New York families to save for college.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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